Three things you should never do to your coworkers

The ability to work well with people is one of most important skills you need to develop, and the art of building trust and rapport will serve you well as you grow in your career.

Building good working relationships is key to building a career, and playing the blame game is never a good idea.

People will tolerate all kinds of work schedules and put in long hours to complete a project and when asked why, most will say it is because they like their coworkers. Their team of coworkers often plays a big role in why people choose to stay in a job or why they leave. The satisfaction of working with a good team is so strong it often overrides higher compensation. The real reason many talented employees leave their employers too soon in their careers often is based on work relationships.

In the workplace where competition exists for promotions or bonuses, there are three areas that seem to play a role in diminishing team spirit and can set the stage for one-upmanship with your coworkers.

In order to have good working relationships with your coworkers there are three things you should avoid:

Never throw your coworker under the bus. Don’t set out to hurt your coworkers. While aiming to make their own positions more secure, employees can start pointing out other people’s’ deficiencies in hopes of looking superior. It never works and will come back to you in the future.

Reacting before getting all the facts. This is easy to do, especially if a colleague’s actions have been bothering you for some time. Making assumptions instead of getting answers can create an atmosphere of mistrust and prevent honest communication. Get all the facts. Then if you have a reaction, talk about things in an adult manner.

Playing the blame game. Have you ever been around a coworker who instantly places blame before getting all the information? Everyone’s responsible, no one is to blame. Accept responsibility for your actions, and if you are tempted to start blaming someone without a constructive resolution in mind, know that it will lead to defensiveness and will shut down communication.